From the Sidelines
by Darkhymns
Summary: Both Sans and Flowey watch the world around them grow darker. Time for a talk.
The kid was stopped in Waterfall.

Among the echo flowers, Undyne raised herself from her knees, reforming her melting body. She became a being of pure will, a beast of raging vengeance, both unified by the concept of protection. Dark armor held up her body, her missing eye flashing out a thin beam of light that was as sharp as her spears. She held out one such weapon, pointed it straight at the blank face of the child.

" _You're gonna have to try a little harder than that,"_ she promised. The human bowed their head, and prepared.

Hidden away by the cliffs, a flower and a skeleton watched.

"They'll win this time, you know," Flowey stated. His face was all smiles, his eyes bright as he watched the fireworks play out in the distance. Spears hurled themselves relentlessly against a barrier. A wicked slash aimed at the heroine's arm. She never moved, never flinched away. "They've been practicing! It's too bad your friend doesn't realize it. She was never the smartest of the bunch, was she?"

Sans stood right next to the flower, hands in his pockets, staring straight ahead. He had his hood over his skull, inviting shadows to mute away his paleness. Twin dots of light were the only thing to be seen, their gaze steady.

"But really, is she even your friend?" Flowey decided to turn away from the fight to his companion. He already had the patterns of spears and slashes memorized by now. "I mean, maybe I'm wrong, but friends are supposed to be there for each other, right? Friends don't let each other down. If worst comes to worst, you'll still help out, I'm sure."

Undyne encircled the human in a closing ring of spears. Tips grazed against their arms, but then they sidestepped on nimble feet, always prepared for spears to materialize, barely keeping an eye on the weapons' movements. Another quick dodge, and they lunged at the warrior, bruising her face.

"But then, I guess you didn't help out that shyren from back there."

Another dodge, another slash. Undyne's grin was feral, ignoring the cuts she now wore.

"Or that monster kid either."

The armor cracked from the human's attack, skewing that heart emblem into distorted halves.

"Good thing Undyne came by and took the hit for him! No wonder people admire her. She may be thick headed, but she really is a brave hero and all." Flowey hummed lightly, swishing his petals to and fro. "You really were going to let the kid die, weren't you? Your brother would be so disappointed."

Undyne's laugh was of pure adrenaline, echoing across the cavern, having no effect on the human who rushed at her mercilessly. Sans didn't react either, to anything.

"Oh, right! Your brother."

The echo flowers took Undyne's laugh, multiplied it until that was all there was. Yet it was no greater than the human's silence.

"I wonder if he saw you standing there, too. You know, after being decapitated and all."

Undyne took every hit, her speed never lessening, her power still at its peak – even as her throws kept missing.

"Maybe he thought you would still save him in the end?"

Sans kept looking ahead, tracking each movement before him.

"Because what kind of brother would just watch him die like that?"

Flowey was laughing too; not as loud, not as manic, but so very genuine, even content.

"Not even you would do that to him, right? Oh, wait!" The flower clapped his leaves together in excitement. "You did exactly that."

For the first time, Undyne had to step back from a particularly violent blow. The human attacked again, but Undyne only retaliated even harder.

"And what's even funnier, it wasn't even the first time either! Again and again, you keep letting it happen. Wow, you must love watching him die, huh?"

The human's next strike nearly made Undyne drop her spear. "I should've asked Papyrus about that back then, but I always forgot to." Flowey shrugged the best he could, lacking actual shoulders. "Oh, well. He was just such an idiot, wasn't he?"

Sans faced him, slightly.

Flowey only grinned, eyes sinking into blackness. "Please. You think you scare me now?" He gestured to the human who was advancing against the dying warrior. "As long as they're here, you won't do a thing at all."

Sans' gaze swiveled back to the fight. The motion was enough for light to sneak into his hood, illuminating a wide, stark smile.

"I don't think Undyne can last one more hit. Oh! What a good time for you step in and play the hero!"

Undyne's last wave of spears was as swift and hard as they always were. But her aim could not counter against the human's forethought. They kept walking forward.

"After all, wouldn't she do that for you? Come on! Prove me wrong!" The flower snaked out his stem, circling around Sans' head as he manipulated his face into a giddy snarl. "Prove to me that you have a _soul."_

Sans didn't move.

The human landed one final blow. Undyne shuddered, her body finally breaking down. Still she kept smiling, full of hope for the world, full of disdain for the child that dared to take everyone's future. With final, inspiring words, she transformed into dust, erasing even the building sludge of her remains.

The human stared for only a short moment. Then they headed for Hotland.

Flowey laughed sharply within the empty cavern, drifting pollen into the air. In whatever light remained, Sans kept his smile. Rigid, fixated.

"You really are just like me," the flower whispered, already moving away to follow after their dear friend. "You just don't care for anything at all."

Flowey dug into the ground, leaving Sans to stand alone in the dark.

* * *

The next monster to stand up against the human barely had his time to shine.

The constant humming of the Core was drowned out by explosives, by crackling wires, by a modulated voice that laughed grimly as he was engulfed by flame.

"Wow, would you look at that! Even Mettaton did something!" Flowey was cackling, his cartoonish face growing fangs. "If even that self-absorbed piece of junk stood up against them to protect other people, then what does that make you?"

They both stood outside in the hallway, looking into a room that had, just a second ago, been full of dazzling lights. Mettaton had thrived in them, mechanical wings sprouting from his back, his face half obscured by black steel plating that had looked quite intimidating. Alphys' greatest creation; taken down in one hit.

Sans said nothing as the star of the Underground burned so bright that he withered in the heat. The human stared at the carnage with just as impassioned a look.

"Well, doesn't matter anyway. Soon we can leave this dumb place and actually go somewhere fun for once!" Flowey was extended out between cracks in the metal floor, hovering just near Sans' knee. "And here I thought that talentless dust bin wanted to go to the Surface. Guess he's fine with just dying down here like the rest of 'em."

The human barely brushed at their shirt with both hands, getting rid of metallic dust. When they had enough, they circled around the small bonfire, the flames lighting up their blank face as they continued on. Nothing more than that.

"I didn't expect you to save him either. I mean, I don't think you even knew the guy. But I'm sure Papyrus would have though. Being his idol and all!"

Sans didn't answer. Sans never answered.

Flowey frowned for the first time, aggravated at the stillness the skeleton brought. He just kept staring at the fire, as if it would bring something back.

"Ugh, why are you so boring? If I knew you were going to be like this, I would've just killed you myself back in Waterfall!"

The flower shifted forward, moving along hard floors toward the direction of the Capital. "You can just stand there and be depressed by yourself as usual. You know who they're going after next, right?"

The silence he got back felt like such an insult. Flowey was basically in Sans' line of vision but he stared right through the plant as if he was air. Or did his hood obscure his eyes so much that he couldn't even see anymore?

The fact that the skeleton was trying to stay so mysterious, through all of this, was really pissing him off.

"Why bother even keeping that promise?"

There it was. Just a small little reaction. A shift of the hooded skull, an eye socket that twitched. Barely anything, but _something._

"Yeah, I heard you at the door. So pathetic. You already know she's dead! And that they killed her!" Flowey twisted his voice until it dripped with unequal cruelty, crackling synonymously with the still-burning flames. "So why bother with something so useless?"

Sans didn't change expression. He barely changed anything. But he spoke.

"don't you know it's bad luck to break a promise to the dead?"

Flowey was stunned enough to not come up with any words right away. Sans' voice had been low, cutting through the air that smelled of burning plastic and scorched metal.

"You are such trash." His face split into a wide-toothed grin. "This whole world was bad luck to begin with!"

Sans made a sound. What? Was he laughing? Coughing? What was the difference?

"welp." Sans shook his hidden face after he was done. "it was when you came along, that's for sure."

Flowey grumbled deeply, not liking how the skeleton sounded _exactly_ the same as he always had. As if he had just gotten back from Grillby's instead of watching everyone fall to dust within the past several hours.

"So what? Blaming me for your mistakes? I guess I should've expected that!"

For a moment, there was something decidedly there in Sans' grin; tight, slightly crooked, but then, "can't say. besides, you have a point."

He couldn't remember a time when the comedian ever agreed with him on any point. "Huh?"

"a new option just opened up. and i think it gave me a loop hole." Sans turned halfway. "guess i should get started on that."

"I don't… What?" Flowey craned his head forward, uncaring to the building fire in the center of the room. "Where are you going?"

Sans was facing the blue-tinted hallways of the Core. "taking a shortcut." He swiveled his head for a quick glance backwards. "have fun."

Flowey opened his mouth, but Sans already turned away, walking in the opposite direction. He didn't look back.

"Smiley trashbag," Flowey muttered before going off in the _right_ direction.

* * *

When Flowey could breathe again, he was standing in the long corridor, with its golden, shining floor and tall, glass windows.

He burst between the meticulously placed tiles, squeezing out from the floor desperately, stretching out his petals as he did so. But Flowey had found who he wanted; Sans, standing there just beyond the remembered sunlight, half of his form in shadow. The skeleton had his eye sockets closed, hands in pockets, his stance slouched over slightly, as if he had fallen asleep while standing. (Likely). He only opened his eyes when Flowey made a noise. No hood draped his head this time.

"heya bud." A pause. "look a little shaken there."

Flowey couldn't still himself. His petals wilted as he directed his gaze to the much-too-bright floor. "They're coming."

"i know." The skeleton heaved a small sigh. "taking their time though."

With a frustrated snarl, Flowey edged forward, commanding his roots to propel him through the hidden soil, their tendrils stretching long and far. His eyes roved around the large chamber with its curved ceiling and its stamping of family crests at every conceivable place. The memory was too well-known. He fully expected for the sound of rattling to echo across the walls, to feel a suffocating grip that would wrench him down before being engulfed in pure, white heat. But Sans made no such motions, instead keeping his eyes steady, and his grim as amused as always.

"What are you doing?" Flowey asked.

Sans' shrug was less than half-hearted. "considering my options."

"Your optio- Are you kidding me?!" His shriek bounced across the floor. "You're doing this _now?_ After everything and everyone's already gone!? What's even the point? Seriously?! What's the point?"

Sans took out one hand from his pocket, pointing a finger bone at Flowey. "a valid question," he said, and nothing else.

The skeleton didn't make sense. He had never made sense. Even back then, even when–

"This is the exact same crap you pulled when I had control over the timeline! Just waiting until the last minute like always!" Flowey's voice broke as he continued speaking, still remembering the smile of his friend back outside, and the gleam of their knife. "And- and even back then, you just stopped bothering. I would have to reset because you just wouldn't _do_ anything anymore."

Sans stood complacent in Flowey's rage and it only made the flower want to rip something apart. The snapping apart of bones was familiar, along with the charred destruction of vines. Somehow, those images were much more comforting than what would come; a vacuous smile balanced on the edge of complete nothingness.

"Are you doing this to be some kind of hero? Just so you can save that worthless king? You're… such an idiot!" His voice slowly descended into a mixture of fear and undeniable hate, its pitch nearing close to corruption. "It's not going to matter. And even if it did, it doesn't make you any better. Real heroes… real _friends_ don't just stand back and watch all their friends die!"

There was silence for a long while. Only when Sans blinked could the flower be sure that the skeleton was still conscious, and not pitted deep into some abyss that Flowey had no hope of traversing through.

"you're right." Sans winked. "guess i just wanted to follow in your footsteps."

Too late, he realized his mistake. He tried to shift around his face, back to an empty smile instead of a replica of a long-dead prince. It happened sometimes, this reflexive rearranging of his features to mimic other people. Always for fun, always to set somebody to confusion before he would kill them. But he had not wanted this now, and even if he took away the muzzle and eyes of a stupid kid who had only set the world on infinite repeat - Sans had already seen. And for a skeleton that could read expressions to a scary degree, Flowey showing his real face was just giving away all the answers at this point.

"You don't understand," Flowey said underneath his breath. "You don't understand, you don't understand, you don't understand…"

And he couldn't forget. He couldn't forget his friend wasting away, the scent of golden flowers underneath a blue sky, and the fresh burn of a blade slicing open his ears. He couldn't forget how his head had been shouting, _not in his voice,_ and the deep tinge of betrayal that left his own soul shaking.

They hadn't forgotten either. And with the way they gripped their knife, the way they smiled, they also made him a _promise._

Sans was talking.

"anyways, there's a new play piece here. something that can't be… forgotten, even if everyone came back. so." He shrugged, emphasizing with both hands as he performed the universal gesture of 'i have no freaking clue.' "gotta step in."

Flowey's tone was even. "Is that the only reason?"

Sans didn't confirm with an answer, hands back in their pocketed place. Instead, he said, "right now, i'm not going to sit back and take it."

A vine, punctured with red-tipped thorns, slammed into an empty space right next to Sans. Tiles cracked apart. Thorns scraped against a nearby column, implanting deep gouges in the stone work. The skeleton's jacket fluttered from the sheer force, the right side of it lightly dusted in rock debris.

Sans tilted his head. "uh, ya missed?"

The vine retreated behind Flowey's form.

"Not going to sit back, huh?" Flowey growled, black eyes engulfing half his face. _"Why not?_ That's all you ever do anyway!" He shook his head. "I just… I don't get you at all!"

Sans didn't even shrug. He just stared down at the flower, as if it was something so novel and unique. "join the club."

Flowey had never felt so trapped.

"I was wrong. We're not alike. You're just useless scum, and I'm… I'll do something that's actually worthwhile!"

"good on ya, bud."

"Don't mock me! I know how this world can be saved! You can just stall for time. It's all you're good at!" Flowey looked away. "I am the prince of this world and I can change it. No one else! Not even…"

Sans stared. "good on ya, bud," he repeated.

How completely worthless. It was no wonder they had wanted it all erased. Flowey couldn't blame them. Not at all. Yet it did nothing to stop him from shaking.

His roots dug deep, slowly pulling him down. "Whatever. _Have fun_ with your suicide."

"plan to."

"Ugh." He would be glad to leave this empty place, that empty smile, and this whole, empty world.

 _This world was fine the way it was._ He thought, dragging himself down into earthy darkness, feeling his way to the throne room. _I just don't want to die that's all. I'd rather live forever in boredom than die._

* * *

Each reset that happened brought him back underneath the soil, made him swallow earth, and made him endure the stupid look on his father's face. He'd have to repeat his words, and continually beg the clueless king to get the souls. _It's the only way to stop them. Please!_ And each and every time, the tears wouldn't stop.

 _Stall for time,_ Flowey kept thinking when he was brought back again. Always, he would hear the clacking of rattling bones, trailing him from the ground to above. _That's all you're good for._

He had a feeling that Sans would agree.


End file.
